got geoint?

Journalists and commentators covering Afghanistan and Pakistan have addressed everything from geopolitics to tribal dynamics, reconstruction aid, and, of course, terrorism. Even the casual observer has probably read stories that have addressed U.S. intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance efforts, most notably the use of Hellfire missile-armed Predator and Reaper drones. In covering these topics, pundits often pause to cite the area’s difficult physical terrain, often mentioning it as a factor in the region’s long history of repelling foreign armies. However, none of these analysts has yet written about the sad state of the United States’ basic terrain data (specifically the Digital Terrain Elevation Data — DTED) over this region, which has emerged as an obstacle in conducting operations over such complex terrain. If you would like to read the complete article by USGIF board member Chris Tucker, check it out on Foreign Policy’s web site here.

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As we highlighted in our post about President Obama’s decision to add 30,000 more troops in Afghanistan, GEOINT is going to play a major role in how we deal with such a decentralized enemy. In fact, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency plans on increasing geospatial intelligence for troops in Afghanistan by roughly 25 percent. According to the “Doing Business with the Intelligence Community” blog, the agency anticipates the volume of geospatial intelligence information, which is the collection and analysis of satellite imagery, will grow “significantly for the next couple of years.” As you can see, these are critical times for GEOINT. Now, more than ever, industry and government need to work together to find the right solutions to support our troops and make the surge a success.

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